No matter how good patient portals get, healthcare patients still pick up the phone. They call to confirm appointments they already have, reschedule across multiple departments, check on billing, and ask questions — and they wait on hold while doing all of it.In this episode of Health Reimagined, host Jon Myer (Powered by Myer Media) sits down with Jeff from SoundHound AI to break down what agentic AI actually means for the healthcare contact center, why the first wave of chatbots and IVR systems failed, and how a single natural voice conversation can now handle scheduling, billing, and IT support without a single transfer or hold.🔗 Learn more at soundhound.com✅ Topics Covered📞 Healthcare call centers keep growing no matter what — patients inherently trust a phone call more than a portal notification and that behavior is not changing meaning AI must meet them where they already are🗣️ From press 1 to natural conversation — the shift from scripted IVR menus to real-time streaming voice recognition means patients can reschedule to the day after St. Patrick’s Day in plain language and the agent actually understands them🔐 Security first then agentic freedom — a hybrid model uses deterministic scripted authentication to verify who the patient is before agentic AI takes over for the free-flowing part of the conversation protecting sensitive health data without killing the experience📉 Call center attrition of 25 to 35 percent is the real business problem AI solves — health systems can now grow and acquire hospitals without hiring proportionally more agents as natural attrition gradually shifts volume to AI🎯 Start with the highest volume lowest complexity use cases first — prove ROI fast with starter packs built on what has already worked in dozens of health systems and use that foundation to innovate into softer ROI wins from there⏱️ Timeline0:00 — Introduction — AI is no longer just answering questions it is taking action0:32 — Meet Jeff from SoundHound AI at HIMSS0:44 — Why healthcare patients still pick up the phone despite having patient portals1:41 — The shift from skepticism to expecting a digital agent to answer2:41 — After hours calls multilingual support and not wanting to wait on hold3:35 — Rescheduling in natural language — the day after St. Patrick’s Day example4:03 — What the first wave of chatbots and IVR got wrong and what the industry learned6:00 — One call for scheduling billing and IT without transfers or reauthentication7:39 — Streaming voice recognition — processing words in real time like a human conversation10:11 — IVR vs agentic AI — MapQuest directions vs Waze navigation11:28 — The hybrid model — secure deterministic authentication then free-flowing agentic AI12:20 — Call center attrition pain points and how AI allows growth without adding headcount13:10 — How to take the first step into agentic AI without overreaching14:34 — What makes a healthcare-specific voice platform different from just wrapping an LLM